Utah’s Engineers: A Statewide Initiative for Growth

1. Utah’s Engineers: A Statewide Initiative for Growth Dr. Cynthia Furse University of Utah Dept. of Electrical and Computer Engineering Salt Lake City, Utah

2. Let Me Introduce Myself… • Professor • Teacher • Inventor • Business Executive • Mom & Grandma

3. Engineering Tomorrow’s Engineers • Why we want more Engineering students • The Utah Engineer Project • Engineering PR

4. Product: Engineer • Intelligent • Creative • Educated

5. Engineers • Engineers are Changing the World all the time. They dream up creative, practical solutions and work with other smart, inspiring people to invent, design, and build things that Matter. • EngineerYourLife.org

6. Science Fiction Here TodayMRI Scans Star Trek Photos

7. Science Fiction Here Today Desktop Computer Star Trek Photos

8. Science Fiction Here Today Tasers / Masers / Stun Guns Star Trek Photos

9. Science Fiction Here Today Encephalography

10. Science Fiction Here Today Ultrasound Star Trek Photos

11. Science Fiction Here Today Tablet PC Star Trek Photos

12. Science Fiction Here Today Cell Phones Star Trek Photos

13. Engineers Change the World Creating Cell Phones AND Keeping Them Safe

14. Engineers dream up creative, practical solutions

15. Engineers Work with Smart, Inspiring People!

16. Engineers invent, design, and build things that Matter.

17. Engineering Changes Lives BSEE $55-75k / yr MSEE $65-90k / yr PhDEE$95 – 155k / yr Consulting $150-350+/hr “Have you thought about Engineering?”

18. Engineers Start Companies Utah Innovation Awards – Best of Show 2002

19. Engineering = Economic Engine • Utah’s Engineering-Generated Economy has grown $189M from 2000-2005

20. We Want MORE Smart, Motivated Kids “Have you thought about Engineering?”

21. The Numbers Game:A Typical Engineering Picture Furse Research Group 2002

22. UofU Engineers American Indian Hispanic Black Women White or Asian Men

23. Does It Matter? Yes! Ford Moms

24. The Utah Engineer Project-- 2000 • Double Engineers by 2005 • Triple by 2008!

25. Goal: Graduate More Engineers$2M NSF Project 2007-2012 Since 2000 -- 22% More $46% More Engineers Goal: 180 MORE Graduates/ year (540 total)

26. WHO’s INVOLVED UU College of Engineering (7 Departments) Local Industry High School Teachers / Advisors / Principals District Curriculum Specialists Salt Lake Community College (2 year college) Academy for Math, Engineering, Sciences (Charter HS) Project Lead the Way Jordan Applied Tech Center MESA-STEP Utah Campus Compact Leonardo Science Center Utah State Office of Education Governor’s Office of Economic Development

27. Who Are We Recruiting?

28. Who Are We Recruiting ?

29. ‘Infiltrating’ Engineering Establish Undergraduate Teams Train to Do Outreach In Schools Outreach Visits Recruit High School Teachers Develop HS Engineering Modules Present Modules in Schools Summer Engineering Camp Refine Modules

30. 7 Departmental Teams • 1 Professor • 1 HS Teacher • 4 UU students • 1 SLCC student • 1-2 HS students • Next Year: • 1 Pre-Teacher

31. Teaching Modules • Goal: Modules that teachers will adopt. • Core Curriculum (Precalc,Calc,Phys,Chem) • Hands on / Demos • Include Engineering Application in Each

32. Electrical Engineering • Jello Optics • EM Ring Launcher (projectile motion, induction, heat) • Electricity • Magnetism • More (physics) demos to come… • Working with Doug Hendricks, AMES HS Physics

33. School of Computing • Pre-Calculus Concepts: • Public Key Encryption (basic math) • Cannon Simulation (sine, cosine, and tangent and two dimensional vectors)

34. Mechanical Engineering • Hydraulic Arm (Iterative Nature of Design) • Wind Tunnel Experiment

35. Chemical Engineering • Snow making machine

36. Materials Science & Engineering HIGH SCHOOL INTERACTIVE DEMONSTRATIONS High school team members demonstrating polymer rebound behavior High school member of team participating in space shuttle tile demonstration Salt Lake Community College team member explaining the role of materials in a catalytic converter Undergraduate team members showing how materials are used in a hip replacement

37. Civil & Environmental Engineering • The Math of TRAX

38. What Goes Wrong? • VIDEO!!! Real ENGINEERS Real ENGINEERING They Need to KNOW what you are learning TODAY Demo Provide Measured Data Learn More

39. 1st Annual Utah High School Summit on Bio-Innovation • Focus on prepared, science-interested, ‘undecided’ HS students • Bio-Innovation Experiences (Tours / hands-on / real science) • ‘Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?’ (Local Entrepreneurs) • ‘Change the World’ (Local Industry) • Invention Convention (Design Contest)

40. Engineering PR Jackie SullivanCollege of Engineering & Applied Sciencejacquelyn.sullivan@colorado.edu Report found at: http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=12187

41. ~ Engineers… are creative problem solvers ~ The Problem • Lots of time and effort invested to promote engineering ($400M per year, 2002 NAE report) • Prestige of profession remains middling (periodic Harris polls) • Data show adults and teens do not know what engineers do • Women, African Americans, Hispanics and Native Americans vastly underrepresented in the field Our Future

42. ~ Engineers… make a world of difference ~ • Changing the Conversation: • Messages for Improving Public Understanding of Engineering • June 2008 Publication • http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=12187 Committee on Public Understanding of Engineering Messages. 2008. Changing the Conversation: Messages for Improving Public Understanding of Engineering. National Academy of Engineering. Washington, D.C.: National Academies Press.

43. Funded by the National Science Foundation Public Understanding of Engineering NAE Project • Identify a small number of messages that appear likely to encourage greater public understanding of engineering • Test the effectiveness of these messages in a variety of audiences • Disseminate the results of the message testing to the engineering community

44. ~ Engineers… help shape the future ~ What We Know about Youth Today • Teens have limited understanding of engineering — or engineers • Want well-paying jobs that make a difference • See engineers as helping people, but not directly • See engineers as desk jockeys, disconnected from people • Few teens (<15%) describe us as nerdy or boring 

45. ~ Engineers… make a world of difference ~ • Scientists — more than engineers… • Save lives (82% vs. 14%) • Care about protecting the environment (77% vs. 17%) • Improve the quality of our lives (71% vs. 22%) • Sensitive to societal concerns (61% vs. 28%) • Inclusive of women and minorities (54% vs. 26%) • Care about the community (51% vs. 37%) And, Adults Think… AAES/Harris survey, 2003 Youth want jobs that “make a difference”

46. ~ Engineers… are creative problem solvers~ • Engineering very good career choice (boys 2x) • Gender and ethnicity • African American boys (more than girls) think salary extremely important to job choices • African American girls want a job that makes a difference • Hispanic girls (more than boys) think engineers are nerdy and boring • Hispanic boys are more likely to believe engineering has a positive effect on people’s everyday lives Boys vs. Girls

47. ~ Engineers… help shape the future ~ • No identifiable “public face” of engineering • Youth and adults — have low association of engineers with being “nerds”  • Youth want well-paying, interesting jobs that make a difference • Engineering connotations — build, design, machines, create, math • Engineers are seen as helping people — but not directly, the way physicians do Research Findings

48. ~ Engineers… are creative problem solvers ~ Qualitative Gender Findings • Real gender differences • Boys like space exploration and designing video games • Girls gravitate to using DNA evidence to solve crimes • Teen girls not sold! Engineering is creative? Work is rewarding? Engineers have a positive effect on people’s everyday lives? • Younger girls pick images involving female engineers; boys more likely to pick images that features “things”

49. ~ Engineers… make a world of difference ~ In a nutshell… • Recast communications from personal benefits and skills needed to how engineers make a difference in the world • Start talking in terms of ideas and impact • Not a world of challenging math and science… but a world of difference • Position engineering experience as one of discovery, design, imagination, innovation and contribution

50. …from benefits and skills… • to A World of Difference • No profession unleashes the spirit of innovation like engineering. From research to real-world applications, engineers constantly discover how to improve our lives by creating bold new solutions that connect science to life in unexpected, forward-thinking ways. Few professions have such a direct and positive effect on people’s everyday lives. We are counting on engineers and their imaginations to help us meet the needs of the 21st century. Reposition Engineering